Reconstruction plans for Mosul

04

Feb 2018

Simon Barry and Gordon Muirhead from Al Murabit conducted a recce to Mosul in December. The purpose was to establish what the general situation was and to assess the level of damage, and therefore the requirement for reconstruction over the coming years.

The results were pretty shocking. Mosul is a city that has been destroyed like almost no other. The damage is bad in the East part of the City, but in the West it is almost total. It is more than the result of hard, urban fighting. It is the result of a determined and sustained effort by Da’esh simply to destroy. Almost everything is beyond repair and the infrastructure has been comprehensively destroyed in detail.

The airport has been assessed by some agencies as being 40% damaged. We had both worked there in the last decade so remember it from before. Those assessments are totally out, the airport is 99% destroyed, see the pictures. It is repairable by stages but it will take some effort. The major hospital in East Mosul is also just another victim of total and wanton destruction. Again, that will need a design, build and operate project to restore it.

The priority must be to get people back to their homes with sufficient amenities to begin a life that could approach normal. The community has been traumatised by the takeover, the occupation and the subsequent destructive fighting that accompanied the liberation. Many have no home to go to, loved ones are still unaccounted for and basic services are struggling. There are still many living in camps.

The upcoming Kuwait Conference on 14 February should have some good news for the hard pressed people of Iraq. The work needs to be done and it can be done. There are risks but we are ready, and well placed, to manage them to allow the really important work to be completed.

To talk to the team while they are at the Kuwait Conference, contact us on info@almurabit.com

Displaced people are forced to live in shacks wherever they can

Evidence of the war is visible on every street and each house is affected